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24.6.12

The Prelude

In a few days’ time I am hoping to post the story of Sage’s birth. It’s
something I’ve been wanting do for a while now and as Si has recently been on
holidays, I’ve finally had the chance to sit down and write. It has been so, so
wonderful to relive the most incredible experience that has forever changed our
lives.

This post was originally going to be her birth story, but as I began
writing, I unintentionally {but perhaps therapeutically?} began sharing some
thoughts and experiences in the lead up to Sage’s arrival, so this post has now
become the ‘prelude’ to the main event! Our recount is a personal one and the
values that we hold and the decisions that we made are in no way to be viewed
as judgement on those who may have done it differently. Each and every person’s
journey and experience of pregnancy and labour are as different and unique as
the precious little bundles we ultimately birth. Here’s part one of our story…

8 weeks

9 weeks, in Melbourne at Kylie's Aphrodite Concert

9 weeks, at a work colleague's 40th birthday

I absolutely adored being
pregnant. From that very first moment of discovering Sage was on her way,
I had a sense that I was walking the path destined for my footsteps… and that
path was leading me to ‘destination motherhood’. Yes, of course there were hard
days. Yes, of course there were tears. But I found myself appreciating both the
likeable and not-so-likeable features that came with growing a little one. I was very fortunate to have minimal
morning sickness in the early days of pregnancy. I’d sometimes feel a little
‘off’ when I first woke up of a morning, but after some plain, dry toast, the
nausea would soon subside. There were no ravenous cravings either, but boy did
I eat! While teaching, I’d have little snacks stashed everywhere around the
Kinder classroom, as I just couldn’t last the distance between breakfast and recess
and then recess to ‘big lunch’! My diet didn’t really change throughout the
gestation period however, red meat was no longer my friend, but orange juice
was my new bestie. Incredible tiredness, particularly in the first trimester,
was my only real weakness. As soon as I’d get home from work, little lie downs {come two hour
naps!} were certainly a regular occurrence.

18 weeks, at work {notice the bags?!}

17 weeks, at work

﻿﻿

As I began to show {at around 16
weeks}, I revelled in watching by blossoming belly become rounder by the day. I
must admit, I did feel slightly confronted when I hit numbers on the scales
beginning with a ‘6’ and then in my final week, a‘7’{!}, when I’d only ever
been used to seeing a ‘5’ since high school. However, the weight gain also
delighted me, as I felt reassured that our little baby must be thriving through
receiving all the nutrients and nourishment she needed. Bio Oil and Gaia
lotions were tenderly massaged onto my bump each morning and each night during
the first little while, but I soon lapsed to only a few times a week as the
months progressed. As a result, I luckily didn’t develop a single stretch mark
on my tummy – but perhaps I should’ve poured litres of the stuff on my boobs!

21 weeks, putting together our entire FlatPak kitchen

Speaking of boobs, a baby was not the only thing growing - with pregnancy
they finally appeared! It was as if they were hiding in some magical, far-away
land, just waiting for a reason to emerge from the depths. And emerge they did,
seemingly overnight. I’d wished for so much of my adolescent days to be bigger
in the chest department and used to be envious of girls who could fill out a
bikini so nicely. I no longer needed to wish, as I quickly went up a cup size
during the first trimester and another once my milk came in. My sudden growth in
the cleavage department was a key indicator of my pregnancy to those who didn’t
already know I was expecting. One parent attending my Birth to 4 group at
school said to a work colleague, “Anna is either pregnant or has had a boob job
in the holidays, which is it?”. I loved my new found 'curves' but they were
soon over shadowed by my burgeoning belly, and gradually {and thankfully} became much less
noticeable to the general public! I soon developed a new found appreciation for
my "little friends" of the past and am now happy that
they’re slowly returning.

35 weeks

From 18 weeks, I began to feel those miraculous little flutters, which
before long, became not so little flutters! Every little kick and thump from
the inside flooded my heart with pride and would always bring a knowing smile
to my face. How I cherished that amazing bond with my precious girl. I loved
those movements so much that I was willing to share them with whoever was in
the closest vicinity to my belly at the time. Enthusiastically I’d encourage work
colleagues, family members, friends and even my Kindergarten children to feel
Sage’s wiggles!

Diary entry –
September 15th (23 weeks) tonight Daddy and I are spending
the night at VDL in Stanley and as we were laying in bed, Daddy finally felt
you move for the very first time! You are 23 weeks old and are getting stronger
and more loved every single day.

Our gorgeous bed at VDL, Stanley

32 weeks

Of course, pregnancy does not always bring with it a smooth ride, but in comparison
to what some experience during those 9 months, mine was an incredibly
minor hitch...

On December 10th, the day
of my baby shower, I woke to some excessive swelling in my hands and feet. Cankles
puts it mildly! I knew this was quite a common pregnancy symptom and had been
noticing my extremities becoming larger and more fluid filled as the weeks went
by. Being on my feet all day, caring for 22 gorgeous Kindergarteners was
certainly taking its toll on my body, but I was determined to see the school
year through, leaving 3 weeks before my due date. At my last midwives
appointment I had been advised that any sudden swelling should be assessed to
ensure I was not developing pre-eclampsia, as my blood pressure had been a
little higher than normal at my most recent visit.

Off
to the hospital we trundled, an early morning visit, where I was put on the
monitor to analyse our baby’s heart rate and my uterine contractions. I had
felt some tightenings in recent days and these were being displayed quite
consistently on the electronic graph, leading us {and hospital staff} to think
we’d be meeting our bubba sooner, rather than later. Samples of urine were
taken, with the first round of tests revealing there were traces of protein
present (another sign of pre-eclampsia) however after a second round of tests -
and a few hours of waiting - I was thankfully given the all clear to go home
and celebrate my baby shower.

33 weeks, finally enjoying my baby shower

In order to prepare myself for labour and Sage’s birth, I knew that both my
mind and body needed to be in the right space, especially as I was hoping to
attempt a natural, drug-free experience. I surrounded myself with elements that
I believed would assist me in making this hope a reality, which included plenty
of reading and research, weekly yoga and undertaking a Calmbirth course.

Although we were birthing in the hospital, I felt an incredible need to educate myself on our options regarding the care of myself and our baby. As wonderful as our health care system is, I feel that some choices surrounding labour and childbirth are taken out of our hands and may be made without our knowledge or full understanding and are viewed as the 'norm', unless you are well versed in which procedures are and are not necessary.

36 weeks, first baby clothes wash!

37 weeks, work dinner

Through this mind and body preparation, I felt empowered and entirely
confident that my body was designed to birth our baby naturally and that Sage
and I would work together to bring her into the world. I held no fear for the
pain of labour, but viewed it as a short, intense journey that had to occur in
order for us to meet our little one. Of course the anticipation of what was to
come often entered my mind, however with that anticipation came excitement,
rather than doubt or worry. Through Calmbirth we were taught about the
importance of a mother's beliefs and attitudes about birth and how these can be
one of the major differences between a positive or negative birth experience. I
chose to have full belief in my body and mind but I knew that even if the natural
birth that we were hoping for didn't eventuate, that would be okay too. After
all, labour and childbirth contain, and are surrounded by, so many variables; it
would be naïve to assume that it “will” happen in a certain way. Rather than a
birth ‘plan’ which represents such definitiveness, we chose birth ‘intentions’ –
hopes of what we would like to occur, however we understood and were open-minded and
self-assured enough to accept diversions, or even complete departures from the path
if the health of myself or our baby became compromised. With knowledge, comes
power {or so the saying goes} so I tried my hardest to prepare for the unknown,
the incredible experience that lay before us, with great determination and positivity,
keeping in mind that the birth of our beautiful, happy and healthy baby girl
was our final destination, no matter how we arrived.

37 weeks, Christmas Day

39 weeks

And so
it came to this…

41 weeks
and 4 days -- 11 days past our ‘due date’

Our obstetrician
was firmly encouraging us to set an induction date at 4 days overdue, although
through my preparation, I knew this was one element I was greatly hoping to
avoid…

We were
so utterly determined to wait -- wait for our little girl to decide when the
time was right. She had chosen her time to be created and we were just as
willing to allow her the freedom and give her the respect to choose her time
enter our world. She would know. We had faith. But to satisfy our obstetrician’s
requests we pleaded with him to hold off until January 24th – by then
we would be 12 days overdue and we were sure that we would have met our little
girl by then! How close we came!

Diary
entry – January 15th (40 weeks, 3 days) I know I’ve been told not to
wish this time away, but how could I not wish you were here? That seems unfathomable
to me. Our purpose was to create you; to love you more than anything else in
this world. How could I not want you here by my side, breathing you in, soaking
up all of your utter delightfulness? I’ll try to be patient, but there is
nothing else I want more than to be surrounded by your beauty and soft milky breath.

I’ll admit, the waiting was hard.

All around me, people seemed to be 'popping' out their babies, many of them due 3 and 4 weeks after me! There were days where I was unbelieveably tired and frustrated - I just wanted so badly to meet our little girl. I honestly felt I could be the only human on the planet to have the gestation period of an elephant {well perhaps a slight exaggeration, but I was quite delusional by this point!}

As it
was summer, Si and I filled our days with barbeques with friends, picnics with
family, beach walks with Rudi, celebrating my 27th birthday and a beautiful wedding and relishing
our final moments of being a family of just “us”. By this point, I found sleep
incredibly difficult. Poor Si was relegated to the spare room as my immense
belly hogged half of our bed and it was unbearably hot! Accompanying the discomfort,
were the butterflies of anticipation, making the zzzzzzz’s virtually unattainable. Cool
showers, magazine musings and re-folding the 0000’s passed the drawn out days.

39 weeks, Josh and Sarah's wedding

39 weeks, my 27th birthday

39 weeks, barbeque at the Parkers'

Diary entry –
January 16th (40 weeks) Even now at 40 weeks and 4 days, your
movements still make me smile. I could never tire of them. How incredible,
strong and clever you already are. I think I’ll miss our special time together,
knowing that you and I are more connected now than anyone else could possibly
comprehend or understand. It’s like our special secret, unless we choose to let
others in on our magical moments. For now, until you decide to come into the
world and share our lives, you are all mine and for that, I am so, so lucky.

41 weeks, with Papa - who's got the bigger belly?!

On the
21st of January, 9 days overdue and with the induction date weighing
heavily on my mind, I began using ‘clary sage’ an essential oil associated with
assisting the commencement of labour - to be used in the bath to bathe in, as a
massage oil {mixed with a carrier oil} and also to smell. That night, I experienced
3 strong waves {contractions} between the hours of 9pm and midnight. Coincidence
or not, I was thrilled that my body was beginning preparation for Sage’s journey.

On the 22nd of January, two days before induction and 10 days overdue, I had another 3 waves between 3am and 5am. Getting closer!

41 weeks, striding it out!

And on January 23rd? Well that story is to come!

I hope you've enjoyed part one of our tale. Essentially, I just feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to travel this incredible journey of pregnancy. I know there are a lot of obstacles to overcome whilst guiding the growth and development of a precious little one on the inside and it sure takes its toll on your body - both physically and emotionally. But I truly think, as woman, we’re the lucky ones.

We are given the gift of building a connection, an inseparable bond, with our sweet babies before even laying eyes on their precious faces.

Hi Kacie, thank you for reading! Looking forward to sharing Sage's birth story. I just had a look at your photography website - absolutely stunning! I especially love the maternity/newborn section. So precious. Wish we lived closer so you could take some of our little family! xxx